


The Secret Life of Doctor Guerin

by SalazarTipton



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Gen, M/M, Secrets Revealed, The Wild Pony, michael's black hat, post 01x03, professor guerin, secret profession, university au kinda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-31 13:38:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18592333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalazarTipton/pseuds/SalazarTipton
Summary: Michael's used to secrets. Hiding behind so many faces has become easy to him over the years from his human mask to straight to his town drunk persona; they all help him keep the world away from touching the things that are actually important to him. One being Alex, who recently left him, again. And another keeping his position at the university and his research far out of reach from anyone he knows. Until now, at least.





	The Secret Life of Doctor Guerin

**Author's Note:**

> i've been working on this since episode three aired. clearly i need to get on my ass about writing faster.   
> thank you so much to all the peeps that've helped me get this out and finally finish it. y'all are amazing <3

The Wild Pony on a Wednesday night seems like the safest, most neutral place for Michael to go. He’s got some grading to finish up that he could get done in his trailer, but being there still reminds him of waking up to soft kisses across his stomach and a light warmth in his heart. Besides, at least here people tend to leave him alone unless it’s Maria coming over with another drink for him. There are very few people in Roswell willing to strike up conversation with Michael and that’s the way he prefers it. His siblings are just about the only ones, and thankfully neither of them are into the bar scene. 

Michael puts on the E break and shuts off his truck, stepping out into the dusty parking lot with his weathered satchel hanging off his shoulder. The lot’s pretty empty--no surprise there. People tend to save their drinks for the weekend because there isn’t enough money in this town to waste it on booze every night. So, when he steps into the bar it’s just the usuals scattered around the place.

Alex is up at the bar having what sounds like a great night with Liz at his side and Maria pouring them a round of shots. Alex, who just a few days back told him he’s got no room for degenerates in his life. Sure, Michael has a lot going on in his life that isn’t exactly public knowledge, like his degrees, research, and day job. He could have just told Alex he’s a professor, but he knows deep down that’s not the real issue. It always comes back down to dear old daddy and fucked up expectations. 

If he couldn’t bare to be with Michael because of his reputation--the one that keeps him safe, under the radar, and stops people from asking questions--then clearly he didn’t want Michael enough to matter. (That’s a lie and he knows it, but he’s clinging to the hurt before the doubt and reason can creep in and make him think reconciling with Alex will make everything all better. He feels pathetic enough as it is.)

He settles in at an empty table with no one around it to the side of the seating area and nods at Maria for his usual. Aside from completely failing at ignoring the way Alex’s laugh sounds like he’s letting loose for the first time in...Michael isn’t sure how long, he stays focused on the essays in front of him. He wants to finish this stack before tomorrow so he can give them back when his students hand in their exams. The material in this paper isn’t related to what’s on the midterm, so he doesn’t feel bad about not giving them time with it beforehand, but he doesn’t like letting his grading pile up. Dealing with the fallout of Max’s shit decision didn’t help lighten his stress any and come tomorrow afternoon, he’ll have a whole new stack to deal with anyway.

Maria brings him a glass of whiskey without much fanfare. He doesn’t blame her. They only tend to get chummy when there aren’t any more desirable conversation partners around. He thanks her and when he looks up, he notices how she’s eyeing the papers neatly scattered about the small table. He pulls them a bit closer to himself, gaining her attention. She looks at him. He watches as the cogs turn in her mind, but before she can say anything, there’s a clatter behind them.

Liz slipped off her stool, taking Alex’s crutch with her. She stumbles back and tries to catch it, but fails miserably and then the air is filled with the sweet honeyed sound of Alex’s laugh again. He’s grateful when Maria heads back over to them and leaves him alone with his work and his hurting heart. 

The door to the bar swings open when he starts on the last paper. Glancing up, a pit sinks in his stomach. He reaches for his hat, hoping it’ll hide his face a bit. Kids from the college rarely make it this far down the road, stopping at Saturn’s Ring instead of seeking out the seedy bar, but it does occasionally happen. It often ends with Maria taking her money’s worth in palm readings before sending them and their fake IDs back out the door. He figures it’ll be more of the same tonight until Michael realizes he recognizes all of the kids. He tilts his hat down a little further.

Kara, a physics major and senior, heads up the group with a determined swagger in her steps. She walks up to the couch beside Michael’s table and plops down, taking a look around the place. Her friends trail in behind her, looking a little more concerned about whether or not they should be here. Jensen and Rhy, astrophysics majors and juniors, have always been a little quicker on the uptake in class. Guess it translates to street smarts too, unless Kara pregamed. 

“This place is so cute,” she says when they join her.  _ Yup, definitely pregamed.  _

“Cute? This place looks like where cowboys come to get in bar fights.” 

Michael bites back a laugh. He’s not too far off considering he takes side jobs as a ranch hand and has been in more fights between this seat and the parking lot than he can count. 

Out of all his students that could stumble upon this place, it just has to be these three: his advisees. Each of them were in at least two of his classes on top of coming to his office hours on a regular basis. Any other students would probably scram if they saw him, but not these ones. Hell, they might even try and joke about Michael buying them drinks. Sounds about right for his luck lately. 

“If we are actually staying here, I need drinks, plural,” Jensen says, standing up. “And while I’m up there, I am  _ so _ getting the details on that absolute daddy.” Michael follows his line of sight and his stomach twists between amusement and dread. For one, no one in the history of ever has looked at Alex Manes and immediately thought  _ daddy material _ , certainly no one in his age range. And two, how long is he going to be able to sit back and watch this train wreck happen before he steps in?

“Shouldn’t you be back in your dorms, studying?” Michael speaks up when Wyatt Long takes a gander at Kara and nods to his buddies. 

Rhy turns looking ready to verbally lash whoever thought it was a good idea to talk to them, but the words stop in their throat. Their eyes go wide when they meet Michael’s. Kara takes a second to look over his shoulder, movements a little too languid. She’s at least three drinks in, Michael figures from how long it takes her to process seeing him. 

“Wait--no! What are you doing here? This makes the night even better!” Kara gasps out, flailing a hand to get Rhy’s attention and ends up whacking them in the neck with it. 

“You _ do _ realize your midterm is in about ten hours, right? 

“We’re just taking a study break,” Kara says. If that’s true it’s one hell of a break seeing as she looks about one drink away from drunk in the way she’s leaning over the cushions to talk to him. 

“We got it in the bag,” Rhy adds. 

Michael raises an eyebrow at them. Yeah, Rhy probably does have it in the bag, but Michael doesn’t think Kara does. She’s been slipping this semester. She is so close to graduating he thinks it might be the pressure looming over her. In their last meeting, he asked her about how she’s been balancing lacrosse and her classes, which she carefully avoided answering head on. He wants to help where he can, but her getting drunk instead of studying the night before a big exam isn’t instilling him with any confidence. 

He’s shaken out of the thought when Kara rounds the couch and sits down in the chair beside him. She reaches over to pluck his hat off of his head and put it on her own. It sits a little oddly over her ponytail, but she doesn’t seem to care. He shakes his head, but doesn’t bother stopping her since it’ll just make the situation worse. By the time Rhy joins them, he’s tucked his papers back into his bag and decided on how to salvage this. 

 

* * *

“Lost on your way home from school?” Maria asks, looking over Liz’s shoulder at Jensen.

“Ha, funny. Just need some beer,” he says as he pulls his passport out of his shirt pocket with way more flare than necessary. He reaches in between Alex and Liz to give it to Maria, eyes staying with Alex the whole while. “And maybe your number?”

Alex can’t help the surprised grin that spreads over his face. He shakes his head a little.  _ Kid has some balls on him _ , he can’t help but thinking. He’s just happy he didn’t outright laugh in his face. Liz does that for him. Unfortunately, it just seems to encourage him. Jensen takes a seat on the bar stool next to Alex and gives him an exaggerated once-over. 

Maria rolls her eyes and goes about inspecting his passport.  _ France? _ Now that’s a first for her. 

“ _ Jensen _ , huh? Why the hell would you choose Roswell of all places to get that fancy degree in...astrophysics? You definitely got into better programs in far more interesting places,” Maria comments. 

He looks at her with eyes as wide as the flying saucers people claim came here so many decades ago. He shrugs off his surprise. 

“Lucky guess.”

“It isn’t luck, kiddo. She’s psychic,” Liz says, leaning on the bar and nearly in Alex’s lap in the process. He reaches out a hand on her back to keep her steady. She’s been at the bar an hour or so longer than him and it’s really starting to show. Maria tosses the kid’s passport back at him with a smirk. He catches it and quickly pockets it. 

“Oh really? Well then I’m sure she can tell you what a good idea it’d be for you to give me your name,” Jensen says to Alex. 

“This is a locals-only bar,” Michael speaks up before Jensen can dig himself into an even bigger hole and before Maria can con him out of his spending money with one of her patented scathing palm readings. 

“Doctor G?” Jensen splutters. He looks over to Kara and Rhy making sure he isn’t starting to see things. He’s only had a few drinks and he’s sure tripping wasn’t on the menu tonight, but you can never be too sure. 

“ _ Doctor G? _ ” Alex mimics, completely confused as to what just happened. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“You mean other than stopping you, a self-proclaimed anarcho-communist, from hitting on a decorated war hero?” Michael retorts, cocking his head a little and sporting a grin. 

“You usually spend your night in bars with practically unbuttoned shirts, professor?” Jensen snips back at him. Michael fights the smile trying to curl onto his lips. Verbally sparring with Jensen whether in the classroom about the reading or on the way to his office about some sci-fi novel is always fast paced and fun. The kid’s got a real mouth on him when he wants to use it. 

“You know these kids? What, as their drug dealer or something?” Liz asks with a bemused smile, enjoying the turn her night with friends is taking. 

“Wait, you know them?” Kara speaks up from her spot to the side watching everything unfold with Rhy. She’s doing a pisspoor job of hiding the laughter in her voice all while Rhy is smirking at him. 

Michael scrubs a hand down his face. 

“I so don’t have time for this right now. I need to be grading and you three need to be studying or at the least sleeping. Taking a midterm hungover isn’t the best plan, trust me.”

“Wait--did he call you  _ professor _ ?” Alex talks over him. 

His brows are scrunched together in a way that both softens the annoyance growing in the pit of Michael’s stomach and also reminds him of why he came here to drink in the first place. The is not the conversation he hoped he and Alex would have after the last one was him breaking off whatever thing they managed to put together this time around. 

“Are you trying to tell me that town drunk Michael Guerin has a degree nobody knows about and molds young minds in his day-to-day life?” Maria speaks up. She’s leaning against the bar on her elbows beaming with the face of someone about to get the gossip of a lifetime. He glares at her. 

“People know  _ you _ as a town drunk?” Jensen asks, adopting Maria’s intrigued expression. 

“What are your degrees in?” Liz asks. She’s look at him as if she’s trying to solve some equation; it’s sending a wake of discomfort down Michael’s spine. She already experimented on Max and he’s not too keen on gaining her interest. The last time they’d talked he and Isobel threatened her. Clearly that didn’t stick so well in her mind. He turns to face her anyway.

Michael scoffs. “Like you care.”

She reels back a little on her bar stool and doesn’t say otherwise. The longer this conversation goes on the more he wishes he wasn’t such a coward in avoiding his trailer tonight.

Alex has been keeping quiet while his friends bombard him with questions. His eyes haven’t moved from Michael’s face since he came up behind Jensen aside from when he’s taken another sip of his drink. For once, Michael can’t bring himself to meet his eyes. 

He’s lived in the drunk cowboy persona for so long he doesn’t know how he should be acting. He’s only ever just himself with Isobel and Max...but he hasn’t even told them about his job at the university. It’s not like he’s ever just honestly  _ Michael _ . And god, he’s so sick of secrets…

Michael turns his back on Alex, Maria, and Liz in favor of facing his students who are now looking at him like the world’s just opened up beneath their feet. He snags his hat off of Kara’s head. 

“Please tell me you didn’t drive here,” he says, his voice giving away just how tired he’s starting to feel. 

“Duh, dude. We aren’t idiots,” Rhy replies. 

Michael scoffs. “That remains to be seen. Especially since you thought drinking right before your biggest test of the term was a great idea.”

“I’m serious, Doctor G. We’re totally gonna slam it tomorrow.”

Michael nods patronizingly as he turns to lean his back against the bar, resting on his elbow. He looks over his students for a second and gets an idea. 

“If you’re so sure, why don’t we just have it aural right now,” he offers with a shrug. “If you  _ really think _ you know the material that well, it shouldn’t be a problem. Right, Rhy? It’s that or you all pack it up and let me drive you back before you can make any worse decisions tonight.”

Kara steps up to him and opens her mouth, but before she can accept his challenge, Jensen leans over to cover her lips with his hand. 

“A few more read through of our notes can’t  _ hurt _ , right guys?” Rhy concedes. 

“Good choice.” Michael winks at them and in a smooth, drawn out motion puts his cowboy hat back on his head. 

* * *

On the drive over to the campus, Kara is enjoying the cool breeze back in the bed of the truck while Jensen and Rhy are up front on the bench seat with Michael. He turns on the radio in hopes that they won’t try to fill the silence, but it’s pointless. There’s no stopping drunk rambling once it’s started.

“So, that guy’s totally the one in that picture by your desk--with the guitars, right?” Rhy asks.

“Oh shit, dude! You’re totally right,” Jensen adds in, turning to Michael. His eyes are a little too wide. “Wait, is he your ex?”

“If y’all don’t shut up right now, I’m docking points off your midterms.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you think! i'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas about where this is headed. <3  
> come find me on tumblr: bialiencowboy


End file.
